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4 J. G. LORRAIN. APPARATUS FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES. No. 540,264.Patented June 4, 1895.

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' K fl TATES UNITE 2|:

JAMES G. LORRAIN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 54:0,264, dated June 4,1895.

Application filed September 28, 1898. Serial No. 486,7 3 (N mod l-l Toall whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES G. LORRAIN, a subject of the Queen of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Norfolk House,Victoria Embankment, London, in the county of Middlesex, England, havein- Vented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of andApparatus for Extinguishing Fires, of which the following is such afull, clear, and exact description as will on able any one skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My present invention is based upon the same principle as is the formerinvention disclosed by me in my United States Letters Patent, No.501,519, issued on the 18th day of July, 1893.

'Mypresent invention difiers from my above mentioned prior inventionmainly in the method by which I utilize the thermal connection tosustain the valve in its normal position. It is obvious that if in thecase of my said prior invention the pressure upon the valve be great andif the valve be retained in its normal position solely by the thermalconnection, the said thermal connection must be very strong and when itconsists of a fusible conductor the said fusible conductor must be ofconsiderable sectional area and will require an electric current ofconsiderable magnitude to fuse it. This is not always a drawback, but insome casesit maybe so: and in such cases it is desirable to so arrangeor dispose the fusible conductor and other parts of the apparatus as toenable it to withstand the strain put upon it without undue augmentationof its sectional area. To effect this is the object of my presentinvention, and I do so by making the fusible connection of such form andarranging it in such manner that instead of a mere tensional strainbeing put upon it, the strain shall be a shearing or practically ashearing one. The most convenient way with which I am acquainted ofobtaining such shearing or practically shearing action on a form offusible connection which will withstand a high pressure withoutrequiring too great a current to fuse it, is by arranging the saidconnection so that it will act as a key or wedge or the like placedbetween two parts of the apparatus: and I shall now proceed to describeby way of a type or example one form of myin vention the said form beingone of the best which I have so far designed for actual use. In orderthat this description may be more readily understood I have annexedhereto a sheet of drawings illustrating the said form.

Of these drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a sideelevation, of a sprinkler-valve, the latter figure showing the electriccircuit, which includes the fusible material. Fig. 3 is a plan of thepart D, showing the part E in section on the line so a: of Fig. 1,

the arms 0, hereinafter to be mentioned, being omitted.

In the figures, Ais a casting of brass, gun metal, or the like, theupper part of which, a, is threaded for the purpose of engagement in awater pipe. The said casting A is perforated at the part a for thepassage of the water. The orifice of a is closed by the glass. ball orvalve B bearing upon a seating formed in a thin brass disk 1).

Into the castingA is screwed at the part a the casting C which consistsof an annular part 0 connected by three arms 0 withthe upper annularpart 0 Upon the annular part c of casting O is affixed the annularinsulating piece D.

E is a cylindrical brass piece bearing upon the ball B and serving tohold it in position in its seating. Near the top of the piece E is thespoon-shaped extension e which serves as a spreader or deflector as willbe hereinafter described. The lower part or extension 6' of the piece Epasses through an insulating sleeve F in which it is retained by thebinding nuts 9, g, which also serve to receive one of the wires or leadsfrom the source of electrical energy X. The insulating sleeve F and theannular insulating piece D each has a helical groove cut on the surfacenearest the other so that when the parts are in their normal positionthe grooves in these two parts coincide and leave between them a helicalchannel of circular cross section. In this helical channel I place awire of lead or other fusible conducting material as is shown at h, h.One end of this fusible wire is in connection ICO with the binding nut gand the other is attached to the binding screw J. The piece E \isprovided with a tommy-hole 6 as shown.

From what has been said it will be seen that the strain caused by thewater in a upon valve 13 is taken up by the fusible wire h and as thereare several convolutions of said wire, and as the strain on the saidwire is a shearing one extending over a long length of wire the latteris able to withstand a large pressure of water in a.

In Fig. 2 I show the sprinkler as itmay be used in connection with asource of elecrical energy X and a circuit-closing device Z which lattermay be a hand-switch or a thermostat or other convenient operatingdevice.

The parts are shown in their normal positions in the figures. To operatethe valve a current of electricity is passed through the fusible wireeither by means of a hand-switch or a thermostat, or the like, when, thecurrent being sufficient, the wire is at once melted. This allows thepressure in a to force down the valve B, the piece E, and the sleeve Fthrough the annular piece D, when the water passes freely from theorifice of a on to the deflector e,now resting on the insulating pieceD, and is spread in all directions.

In order to replace the parts and supply a new fuse wire so that theapparatus will again be ready for action, the nuts g, g are unscrewedfrom the extension e, when the sleeve F is easily taken out. A piece offuse wire is now wrapped in the helical groove of F, a short lengthbeing free at the upper extremity. The sleeve is now replaced on e by ascrewing motion. The parts are then elevated into their normal position,the fusible wire now acting as a male thread to the helical groove orfemale thread in D. When F isthus in position the short end of thefusible wire hereinbefore mentioned as being left free at the upperextremity is turned over and secured under the head of the binding screwJ as shown, while the other end of the wire is secured under the nut g.In thus placing the fusible wire in position the piece E and the ball Bwill have been pressed upward into position. If it be required totighten up the valve this should preferably be done by means of a tommyin the tommy-hole of E. It is not advisable to tighten up by screwingthe casting 0 into the casing A at the point a as a shearing strain isthen put upon the fusible wire.

Although I prefer to use a fusible wire wound helically between sleeve Fand annular piece D, a wedge, for example, or piece of fusible materialof almost any shape would answer the purpose, the sleeve F and annularpiece D being preferably recessed for the purpose ent, is-

1. In an apparatus for extinguishing fire and preventing it fromspreading, the combination of a valve and a piece of fusible conductingmaterial inserted as a key or wedge between two parts of the apparatusand serving to sustain the valve in normal position a source of electricenergy, an electric circuit leading therefrom and including said fusiblematerial and a circuit-closer for said circuit.

2. In an apparatus for extinguishing fire and preventing it fromspreading, the combination of a movable part formed with a peripheralgroove, a fixed part having a groove formed therein and registering orcoinciding with the groove of said movable part when the parts are innormal position, and a piece of fusible wire inserted within saidgrooves for holding the parts together and sustaining them in normalposition.

3. In an apparatus for extinguishing fire and preventing it fromspreading, the combination of a movable part formed with a helicalgroove, a fixed annular part having a helical groove on the innersurface thereof which coincides or registers with the groove of saidmovable part when the parts are in normal position, and a fusible wireextending through the helical channel formed by the two said grooveswhen they coincide for holding the said parts in normal position.

4. In an apparatus for extinguishing fire and preventing it fromspreading, the combination of a movable part formed with a helicalgroove, a fixed annular part formed upon the interior with a helicalgroove which coincides or registers with the groove of said movable partwhen the parts are in normal position, and a fusible wire extendingthrough the helical channel formed by the two said grooves when theycoincide for holding the said parts in normal position, a source ofelectric energy, an electric circuit including said fusible material,and a circuit-closer located in said circuit.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 25th day ofSeptember, 1893, in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

, JAMES G. LORRAIN.

Witnesses:

A. M. HAYES, WILLIS FOWLER.

